Court Orders Oahu Club to Pay Man $6M in Damages

A Circuit Court jury is ordering an Oahu, Hawaii, country club to pay a 79-year-old man more than $6 million for the broken back he suffered when he fell nearly 20 feet from the first tee of the club’s golf course.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday a jury found Amar Sappal suffered nearly $12.5 million in damages for injuries.

The jury found Sappal and Mid-Pacific Country Club were equally negligent, so the club must pay half the damages.

Sappal fell from the tee at about 11 p.m. in June 2009. He was there with his son, a club member.

Mid-Pacific lawyers denied the club was liable. They suggested Sappal was intoxicated. They argued that Sappal was familiar with the elevated tee from having played golf there.